I was just perusing through my newspaper today, and I came across this gem [read here] --
"This referee champions competition, not obsession"
Here's a short excerpt, written by Gail Rosenblum:
Referee Curby Rogers leaned forward and waited another second before making his first call. The game hadn't started. This one was on the crowd.
"Parents," said Rogers, 6-foot-2 and pushing 220 pounds. He spoke slowly to the dozen or so moms and dad and grandmothers line up along the gym wall, his voice deep, his face softening into a disarming grin. "These are fourth- and fifth-graders. They are learning to play basketball."
Rogers, who knows basketball inside and out, was not going to miss a thing. Not traveling or a three-second violation. Not small hand checks or body bumps. But he was going to let most of it go. Everybody clear?
Everybody's clear.
"Thank you," Rogers said, busting up in laughter and heading to the court.
Now, in hockey we don't "let everything go" at the youth level, but we do realize that (A) the kids aren't playing for the Stanley Cup, (B) parents should be encouraging their kids, not belittling them, the coach, or the refs, and (C) some people need to 'Relax, it's just a game".
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